Though Owlcat Games just released the Warhammer 40k CRPG Rogue Trader, it’s still been hard at work updating its previous game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. The game’s just started a free weekend lasting until December 17th, while it will also be on sale for 75% off until the 21st.
WotR is a massive zero-to-hero fantasy campaign based on the Pathfinder tabletop module of the same name. If you’re looking for another RPG obsession after Baldur’s Gate 3, this one’s got a lot more of that old school crunch (it’s “crusty” as my girlfriend would say), but I like that kind of thing.
There’s a ton of fat that could have been trimmed. For example, until recently, the game’s poison-based Assassin prestige class was pretty screwed in a campaign where nearly everything’s immune to poison. On the flip side, there’s also more genuine, sicko mode, weird build potential than almost any RPG I’ve played.
I beat WotR as a throwing axe-chucking Half-Orc bounty hunter imbued with the power of butterfly freedom gods, while I’ve heard tell that some of the strongest builds in the game go all-in on mounted combat and using enlargement spells to turn your horse into some kind of equine colossus.
WotR also has a strong cast in the BioWare ensemble tradition. I’m a particular fan of Daeran, a playboy roustabout and spirit medium who may be communing with an outer god, and Regill, a Lawful Evil Gnome blackguard wielding a double-ended hammer who has the personality of Judge Dredd.
Owlcat’s news update doesn’t specify how save file transfer between the free weekend and a full purchase of the game works. You should be good if you buy the game before the end of the free weekend, but Owlcat notes that the free version will disappear from your Steam library otherwise. There are worse fates though—I didn’t mind playing through WotR’s opening like, three or four times.
WotR seems to have come a long way from a rocky launch—I only caught it six months after release after a lot of early issues were fixed—and I’m hopeful the same can happen with Rogue Trader. While Jody found a lot to love in his review, he noted that a preponderance of bugs, clunky combat, and confusing character progression held it back.